THE PATH
OF PURIFICATION
(VISUDDHIMAGGA)
BY
BHADANTACARIYA BUDDHAGHOSA
Translated from the Pali
by
BHIKKHU NANAMOLI
FIFTH EDITION
BUDDHIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY
Kandy Sri Lanka
35. 'And he performed not only these wonders but also many others too
such as those told in the Matuposaka Birth Story (Ja.iv,90). Now it is in
the highest degree improper and unbecoming to you to arouse thoughts
of resentment, since you are emulating as your Master that Blessed One
who reached omniscience and who has in the special quality of patience
no equal in the world with its deities'.
36. But if, as he reviews the special qualities of the Master's former
conduct, the resentment still does not subside in him, since he has long
been used to the slavery of defilement, then he should review the suttas
that deal with the beginninglessness [of the round of rebirths]. Here
is what is said: 'Bhikkhus, it is not easy to find a being who has not
formerly been your mother... your father... your brother... your sister...
your son ... your daughter' (S.ii, 189-90). Consequently he should think
about that person thus: 'This person, it seems, as my mother in the past
carried me in her womb for ten months and removed from me without
disgust, as if it were yellow sandalwood, my urine, excrement, spittle,
snot, etc., and played with me in her lap, and nourished me, carrying me
about on her hip. And this person as my father went by goat paths and
paths set on piles,
5
etc., to pursue the trade of merchant, and he risked
his life for me by going into battle in double array, by sailing on the
great ocean in ships and doing other difficult things, and he nourished
me by bringing back wealth by one means or another thinking to feed his
children. And as my brother, sister, son, daughter, this person gave me
such and such help. So it is unbecoming for me to harbour hate for him
in my mind*.
37. But if he is still unable to quench that thought in this way, then he
should review the advantages of lovingkindness thus: 'Now you who
have gone forth into homelessness, has it not been said by the Blessed
One as follows: "Bhikkhus, when the mind-deliverance of lovingkind-
ness is cultivated, developed, much practised, made the vehicle, made
the foundation, established, consolidated, and properly undertaken, eleven
blessings can be expected. What are the eleven? A man sleeps in com-
fort, wakes in comfort, and dreams no evil dreams, he is dear to human
beings, he is dear to non-human beings, deities guard him, fire and
poison and weapons do not affect him, his mind is easily concentrated,
the expression of his face is serene, he dies unconfused, if he penetrates
no higher he will be reborn in the Brahma-world" (A.v,342). [306] If
you do not stop this thought, you will be denied these advantages'.
38. But if he is still unable to stop it in this way, he should try resolution
into elements.'How? 'Now you who have gone forth into homelessness,
when you are angry with him, what is it you are angry with? Is it head
hairs you are angry with? Or body hairs? Or nails? ... Or is it urine you
are angry with? Or alternatively, is it the earth element in the head hairs,
etc., you are angry with? Or the water element? Or the fire element? Or
is it the air element you are angry with? Or among the five aggregates or
the twelve bases or the eighteen elements with respect to which this ven-
erable one is called by such and such a name, which then, is it the
materiality aggregate you are angry with? Or the feeling aggregate, the
perception aggregate, the formations aggregate, the consciousness aggre-
gate you are angry with? Or is it the eye base you are angry with? Or the
visible-object base you are angry with? ... Or the mind base you are
angry with? Or the mental-object base you are angry with? Or is it the
eye element you are angry with? Or the visible-object element? Or the
eye-consciousness element? ... Or the mind element? Or the mental-
object element? Or the mind-consciousness element you are angry with?'
For when he tries the resolution into elements, his anger finds no foot-
hold, like a mustard seed on the point of an awl or a painting on the air.
39. But if he cannot effect the resolution into elements, he should try the
giving of a gift. It can either be given by himself to the other or accepted
by himself from the other. But if the other's livelihood is not purified
and his requisites are not proper to be used, it should be given by one-
self. And in the one who does this the annoyance with that person en-
tirely subsides. And in the other even anger that has been dogging him
from a past birth subsides at the moment, as happened to the senior elder
who received a bowl given to him at the Cittalapabbata Monastery by an
almsfood-eater elder who had been three times made to move from his
lodging by him, and who presented it with these words: 'Venerable sir,
this bowl worth eight ducats was given me by my mother who is a lay
devotee, and it is rightly obtained; let the good lay devotee acquire
merit'. So efficacious is this act of giving. And this is said:
'A gift for taming the untamed,
A gift for every kind of good;
Through giving gifts they do unbend
And condescend to kindly speech'. [307]
[The Breaking Down of the Barriers—The Sign]
40. When his resentment towards that hostile person has been thus al-
layed, then he can turn his mind with lovingkindness towards that person
too, just as towards the one who is dear, the very dear friend, and the
neutral person. Then he should break down the barriers by practising
lovingkindness over and over again, accomplishing mental impartiality
towards the four persons, that is to say, himself, the dear person, the neu-
tral person and the hostile person.
41. The characteristic of it is this. Suppose this person is sitting in a
place with a dear, a neutral, and a hostile person, himself being the
fourth; then bandits come to him and say, 'Venerable sir, give us a
bhikkhu', and on being asked why, they answer, 'So that we may kill
him and use the blood of his throat as an offering'; then if that bhikkhu
thinks, 'Let them take this one, or this one', he has not broken down the
barriers. And also if he thinks, 'Let them take me but not these three', he
has not broken down the barriers either. Why? Because he seeks the
harm of him whom he wishes to be taken and seeks the welfare of the
others only. But it is when he does not see a single one among the four
people to be given to the bandits and he directs his mind impartially
towards himself and towards those three people that he has broken down
the barriers. Hence the Ancients said:
42. 'When he discriminates between
The four, that is himself, the dear,
The neutral, and the hostile one,
Then "skilled" is not the name he gets,
Nor "having amity at will",
But only "kindly towards beings".
'Now when a bhikkhu's barriers
Have all the four been broken down,
He treats with equal amity
The whole world with its deities;
Far more distinguished than the first
Is he who knows no barriers'.
43. Thus the sign and access are obtained by this bhikkhu simultane-
ously with the breaking down of the barriers. But when breaking down
of the barriers has been effected, he reaches absorption in the way de-
scribed under the earth kasina without trouble by cultivating, develop-
ing, and repeatedly practising that same sign.
At this point he has attained the first jhana, which abandons five
factors, possesses five factors, is good in three ways, is endowed with
ten characteristics, and is accompanied by lovingkindness. And when
that has been obtained, then by cultivating, developing, and repeatedly
practising that same sign, he successively reaches the second and third
jhanas in the fourfold system, and the second, third and fourth in the
fivefold system. [308]
{Texts and Commentary]
44. Now it is by means of one of these jhanas beginning with the first
that he 'Dwells pervading (intent upon) one direction with his heart
endued with lovingkindness, likewise the second direction, likewise the
third direction, likewise the fourth direction, and so above, below, and
around; everywhere and equally he dwells pervading the entire world
with his heart endued with lovingkindness, abundant, exalted, measure-
less, free from enmity, and free from affliction' (Vbh. 272; D.i,250). For
this versatility comes about only in one whose consciousness has reached
absorption in the first jhana and the rest.
45. And here endued with lovingkindness means possessing lovingkind-
ness. With his heart (cetasa): with his mind (cittena). One direction: this
refers to any one direction in which a being is first discerned and means
pervasion of the beings included in that one direction. Pervading: touch-
ing, making his object. He dwells (viharati): he causes the occurrence of
an abiding (vihdra—dwelling or continuation) in postures that is devoted
to the divine abidings (see Ch. IV, §103). Likewise the second: just as he
dwells pervading any one direction among those beginning with the east-
ern one, so he does with the next one, and the third and the fourth, is the
meaning.
46. So above: in that same way in the upper direction is what is meant.
Below, around: so too the lower direction and the direction all round.
Herein, below is underneath, and around is in the intermediate direc-
tions. So he sends his heart full of lovingkindness back and forth in all
directions like a horse in a circus ground. Up to this point specified per*
vasion with lovingkindness is shown in the discernment of each direc-
tion separately.
47. Everywhere, etc., is said for the purpose of showing unspecified per-
vasion. Herein, everywhere means in all places. Equally (sabbattatdya):
to all classed as inferior, medium, superior, friendly, hostile, neutral,
etc., just as to oneself (attatd); equality with oneself (atta-samatd) with-
out making the distinction This is another being', is what is meant. Or
alternatively, equally (sabbattatdya) is with the whole state of the mind;
not reserving even a little, is what is meant. [309] Entire (sabbdvant):
possessing all beings (sabbasattavant); associated with all beings, is the
meaning. World is the world of beings.
48. Endued with lovingkindness is said again here in order to introduce
the synonyms beginning with abundant. Or alternatively, endued with
lovingkindness is repeated because the word likewise or the word so is
not repeated here as it was in the case of the [preceding] specified perva-
sion. Or alternatively, it is said as a way of concluding. And abundant
should be regarded here as abundance in pervading. But it is exalted in
plane [from the sensual-sphere plane to the fine-material-sphere plane],
measureless through familiarity and through having measureless beings
as its object, free from enmity through abandonment of ill will and hos-
tility, and free from affliction through abandonment of grief; without suf-
fering, is what is meant. This is the meaning of the versatility described
in the way beginning 'With his heart endued with lovingkindness'.
49. And just as this versatility is successful only in one whose mind has
reached absorption, so too that described in the PatisambhidA should be
understood to be successful only in one whose mind has reached absorp-
tion, that is to say: *The mind-deliverance of lovingkindness is [prac-
tised] with unspecified pervasion in five ways. The mind-deliverance of
lovingkindness is [practised] with specified pervasion in seven ways.
The mind-deliverance of lovingkindness is [practised] with directional
pervasion in ten ways' (Ps.ii,130).
50. And herein, the mind-deliverance of lovingkindness is [practised]
with unspecified pervasion in these five ways: 'May all beings be free
from enmity, affliction and anxiety, and live happily. May all breathing
things ... all creatures ... all persons ... all those who have a personality
be free from enmity, affliction and anxiety, and live happily' (Ps.ii,130).
51. The mind-deliverance of lovingkindness is [practised] with speci-
fied pervasion in these seven ways: 'May all women be free from en-
mity, affliction and anxiety and live happily. May all men ... all noble
ones ... all not noble ones ... all deities ... all human beings ... all in states
of loss be free from enmity, affliction and anxiety, and live happily'
(Ps.ii,131).
52. The mind-deliverance of lovingkindness is [practised] with direc-
tional pervasion in these ten ways: 'May all beings in the eastern direc-
tion be free from enmity, affliction and anxiety, and live happily. May
all beings in the western direction ... northern direction... southern direc-
tion [310] ... eastern intermediate direction ... western intermediate di-
rection ... northern intermediate direction ... southern intermediate direc-
tion ... downward direction ... upward direction be free from enmity, af-
fliction and anxiety, and live happily. May all breathing things in the
eastern direction ... May all creatures in the eastern direction ... May all
persons in the eastern direction ... May all who have a personality in the
eastern direction ... [etc.]... in the upward direction be free from enmity,
affliction and anxiety, and live happily. May all women in the eastern
direction ... May all men in the eastern direction ... May all noble ones
in the eastern direction ... May all not noble ones in the eastern direction
... May all deities in the eastern direction ... May all human beings in the
eastern direction ... May all those in states of loss in the eastern direction
... [etc.] ... be free from enmity, affliction and anxiety, and live happily'
(Ps.ii,131).
53. Herein, all signifies inclusion without exception. Beings (satta): they
are held (satta), gripped (visatta) by desire and greed for the aggregates
beginning with materiality, thus they are beings (satta). For this is said
by the Blessed One: 'Any desire for matter, Radha, any greed for it, any
delight in it, any craving for it, has held (satta) it, has gripped (visatta) it,
that is why "a being" (satta) is said' (S.iii,190). But in ordinary speech
this term of common usage is applied also to those who are without
greed, just as the term of common usage 'palm fan' (tdlavanta) is used
for different sorts of fans [in general] even if made of split bamboo,
However, [in the world] etymologists (akkhara-cintaka) who do not
consider meaning have it that it is a mere name, while those who do
consider meaning have it that a 'being' (satta) is so called with reference
to the 'bright principle' (satta).
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54. Breathing things (pdna): so called because of their state of breathing
(pdnanatd); the meaning is, because their existence depends on in-breaths
and out-breaths. Creatures (bhiita): so called because of being
(bhutatta = becomeness); the meaning is, because of their being fully be-
come {sambhutattaX because of their being generated (abhinibbattatta\
Persons (puggala): 'purn' is what hell is called; they fall (galanti) into
that, is the meaning. Personality (attabhdva) is what the physical body is
called; or it is just the pentad of aggregates, since it is actually only a
concept derived from that pentad of aggregates.
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[What is referred to is]
included (pariydpanna) in that personality, thus it 'has a personality'
(attabhdva-pariydpanna). 'Included in' is delimited by; 'gone into' is
the meaning.
55. And all the remaining [terms] should be understood as synonyms for
'all beings' used in accordance with ordinary speech as in the case of the
term 'beings'. Of course, [311] there are other synonyms too for all
'beings', such as all 'folks', all 'souls', etc.; still it is for clarity's sake
that 'The mind-deliverance of lovingkindness is [practised] with un-
specified pervasion in five ways' is said and that only these five are
mentioned.
56. Those who would have it that there is not only a mere verbal differ-
ence between 'beings', 'breathing things', etc., but also an actual differ-
ence in meaning, are contradicted by the mention of unspecified perva-
sion. So instead of taking the meaning in that way, the unspecified per-
vasion with lovingkindness is done in any one of these five ways.
And here, may all beings be free from enmity is one absorption; free
from affliction is one absorption—free from affliction (abydbajjha) is
free from afflictedness (bydbddha-rahita);* free from anxiety is one ab-
sorption—free from anxiety is free from suffering; may they live happily
is one absorption. Consequently he should do his pervading with lov-
ingkindness according to whichever of these phrases is clear to him. So
with the four kinds of absorption in each of the five ways, there are
twenty kinds of absorption in unspecified pervasion.
57. In specified pervasion, with the four kinds of absorption in each of
the seven ways, there are twenty-eight kinds of absorption. And here
'woman' and 'man' are stated according to sex; 'noble ones' and 'not
noble ones' according to noble ones and ordinary people; 'deities' and
'human beings' and 'those in states of loss' according to the kind of
rebirth.
58. In directional pervasion, with twenty kinds of absorption in each of
the directions beginning with 'all beings in the eastern direction', there
are two hundred kinds of absorption; and with twenty-eight kinds in each
of the directions beginning with 'all woman in the eastern direction'
there are two hundred and eighty kinds; so these make four hundred and
eighty kinds of absorption. Consequently all the kinds of absorption
mentioned in the Patisambhida amount to five hundred and twenty-eight.
59. So when this meditator develops the mind-deliverance of lovingkind-
ness through any one of these kinds of absorption, he obtains the eleven
advantages described in the way beginning 'A man sleeps in comfort'
(§37).
60. Herein, sleeps in comfort means that instead of sleeping uncom-
fortably, turning over and snoring as other people do, he sleeps com-
fortably, he falls asleep as though entering upon an attainment.
61. He wakes in comfort: instead of waking uncomfortably, groaning
and yawning and turning over as others do, he wakes comfortably with-
out contortions, like a lotus opening. [312]
62. He dreams no evil dreams: when he sees dreams, he sees only
auspicious ones, as though he were worshipping a shrine, as though he
were making an offering, as though he were hearing the Dhamma. But
he does not see evil dreams as others do, as though being surrounded by
bandits, as though being threatened by wild beasts, as though falling into
chasms (see Ch. XIV, n.45).
63. He is dear to human beings: he is as dear to and beloved by human
beings as a necklace worn to hang on the chest, as a wreath adorning the
head.
64. He is dear to non-human beings: he is just as dear to non-human
beings as he is to human beings, as in the Elder VisAkha's case. He was
a landowner, it seems, at Pataliputta (Patna). While he was living there
he heard this: 'The Island of f ambapanni (Ceylon), apparently, is adorned
with a diadem of shrines and gleams with the yellow cloth, and there a
man can sit or lie wherever he likes; there the climate is favourable, the
abodes are favourable, the people are favourable, the Dhamma to be
heard is favourable, and all these favourable things are easily obtained
there'.
65. He made over his fortune to his wife and children and left his home
with only a single ducat (kahdpana) sewn into the hem of his garment.
He stopped for one month on the sea coast in expectation of a ship, and
meanwhile by his skill in trading he made a thousand during the month
by buying goods here and selling them there in lawful enterprise.
66. Eventually he came to the Great Monastery [(MahavihAra) at
AnurAdhapura], and there he asked for the going forth into homeless-
ness. When he was being conducted to the chapter house (simd) for the
going-forth ceremony, the purse containing the thousand pieces dropped
out from under his belt. When asked 'What is that?', he replied, 'It is a
thousand ducats, venerable sirs'. They told him, 'Lay follower, it is not
possible to distribute them after the going forth. Distribute them now*.
Then he said, 'Let none who have come to the scene of Visakha's going
forth depart empty-handed', and opening [the purse] he strewed them
over the chapter house yard, after which he received the going forth and
the full admission.
67. When he had acquired five years' seniority and had become familiar
with the two Codes (see Ch. Ill, §31), he celebrated the Pavdrand at the
end of the Rains, took a meditation subject that suited him, and set out to
wander, living for four months in each monastery and doing the duties
on a basis of equality with the residents. While he was wandering in this
way:
The elder halted in a wood
To scan the tenor of his way;
He thundered forth this roundelay
Proclaiming that he found it good:
'So from your full-admission day
Till in this place you paused and stood
No stumbling mars your bhikkhuhood;
Be thankful for such grace, I say'. [313]
68. On his way to Cittalapabbata he came to a road fork and stood won-
dering which turn to take. Then a deity living in a rock held out a hand
pointing out the road to him.
69. He came to the Cittalapabbata Monastery. After he had stayed there
for four months he lay down thinking, 'In the morning I depart'. Then a
deity living in a manila tree at the end of the walk sat down on a step of
the stair and burst into tears. The elder asked, 'Who is that?'.—'It is I,
Maniliya, venerable sir.'—'What are you weeping for?'—'Because you
are going away.'—'What good does my living here do you?'—'Vener-
able sir, as long as you live here non-human beings treat each other
kindly. Now when you are gone, they will start quarrels and loose talk.'
9
The elder said, 'If my living here makes you live at peace, that is good',
and so he stayed there another four months. Then he again thought of
leaving, but the deity wept as before. And so the elder lived on there,
and it was there that he attained nibbana.
This is how a bhikkhu who abides in lovingkindness is dear to non-
human beings.
70. Deities guard him: deities guard him as a mother and father guard
their child.
71. Fire, poison and weapons do not affect him: they do not affect, do
not enter into, the body of one who abides in lovingkindness, like the
fire in the case of the lay woman devotee Uttara (see Ch. XII, §34 and
DhA.iii,310), like the poison in the case of the Samyutta reciter the Elder
Cula-Siva, like the knife in the case of the novice Sahkicca (see
DhA.ii,249); they do not disturb the body, is what is meant.
72. And they tell the story of the cow here too. A cow was giving milk
to her calf, it seems. A hunter, thinking 'I shall shoot her', flourished a
long-handled spear in his hand and flung it. It struck her body and
bounced off like a palm leaf—and that was owing neither to access nor
to absorption, but simply to the strength of her consciousness of love for
her calf. So mightily powerful is lovingkindness.
73. His mind is easily concentrated: the mind of one who abides in lov-
ingkindness is quickly concentrated, there is no sluggishness about it.
[314]
74. The expression of his face is serene: his face has a serene expres-
sion, like a palmyra fruit loosed from its stem.
75. He dies unconfiised: there is no dying deluded for one who abides in
lovingkindness. He passes away undeluded as if falling asleep.
76. If he penetrates no higher: if he is unable to reach higher than the
attainment of lovingkindness and attain Arahantship, then when he falls
from this life, he reappears in the Brahma-world as one who wakes up
from sleep.
This is the detailed explanation of the development of lovingkind-
ness / metta.
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